Senator Judd

The headlines over at Huffpo today screamed (because the headlines over at Huffpo always scream – you actually have to scroll down before you get to the picture or figure out what the hell the story is about) that Ashley Judd has thrown her hat into the ring, that she’s definitely decided to run.

So, I clicked on the story to read more, because I’m as much a fan of Ashley Judd as I am whatever the opposite of a fan is of Mitch “Turtlehead” McConnell, because I like the idea of an unapologetic liberal running for high office in a deep red southern state, and because if she does run it will make this column much easier to write as there will be at least one election going on with a bit of pizzazz to it.

Oh, yes, Senator

I was immediately disappointed when I saw the phrase “according to a source.”  Well, of course there’s a source.  All that is saying is “somebody says Ashley Judd will run.”  Somebody, that is, who is not Ashley Judd.  Because, if it was Ashley Judd, they would have said “Judd says she will run.”   They did say it was a source close to Judd, but that still doesn’t mean much.  It could be her make-up lady, willing to talk to the press and make shit up for a couple hundred bucks.

It got worse, though.  There was this paragraph in the article: Reached for comment by email Saturday, Judd offered a not-quite-ironclad denial to The Huffington Post. “I am not sure who is saying this stuff, but it is not I! I’d prefer as a fan of your journalism that you stay accurate and credible. We told everyone who called us yesterday these stories are fabrications.”

In other words, the whole story is bullshit.

I hope she does decide to run, though, and I think she could win.  Here’s why:

1.  The campaign is starting early.  Since both her and McConnell have close to 100% name recognition, a lot of the dirt and embarrassing stuff will be out of the way early, like Judd’s comment about how having children in this evil world was a selfish act.  There’s plenty of time to walk all that back.  Judd just needs to hold a lot of babies between now and November of 2014.  She’s an actress.  She can do that.

2.  The residency issue.  She can solve that real quick by buying a house in  Kentucky.  It worked for Clinton in New York.  It’s worked for lots of other politicians.  That hasn’t been a decisive issue in any campaign for over a century.  Nobody gives a shit about that.

3. Mountaintop removal.  Yeah, coal mining is big in Kentucky, but there are people on both sides of this issue.  There are even some right wing rednecks who hold to the opinion that mountains, however much you want to take coal out of them, should be allowed to remain mountains.  I saw it on an episode of “Justified” which I believe to be a fair and accurate portrayal of life in Kentucky.

4. She’s an actress.  So? So was Reagan.  So was Fred Thompson.  So was Arnold Schwarzenegger.  So was Fred Gandy.  So was Sonny Bono.  So was Al Franken.  For better or worse, acting has become a legitimate springboard into politics.

5. She is, as Rand Paul said, “way damn too liberal for Kentucky.”  Yeah, that’s true.  But Mitch McConnell is a corrupt, worthless old (emphasis on the old) piece of crap.  What Ashley needs to do to counter the liberal charge is to spend a lot of time in small towns in Kentucky, listening more than talking, presenting her liberal positions in a down home way that everybody can understand (listen to me, Ashley – your role model should be Bill Clinton).

So, I hope she runs and I think she can win, but today’s announcement was not an announcement and we shouldn’t get too excited just yet.